College Bound? Stay On Course

HIGH SCHOOLS

Black Schools Can Recognize Diverse Needs Of Students.

African-American students considering college choices often have to ask themselves a question students of other races don't face:

"Should I attend a `black' school or a `white' school?'' Many students make this decision against a backdrop of family loyalty and cultural enrichment.

Those two factors made the decision easy for Thomas Walker, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High.

He will follow in the footsteps of his parents, who both attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. FAMU is the only public university in the state that is predominantly black.

"I feel that all black people should have `The Black Experience' whether it's in school, at church, in their community. My entire life I've attended predominantly white schools and I feel that I'd be unjust to myself if I didn't attend a black university," he said.

Other Florida schools with predominantly black student enrollments are Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Ed Waters College in Jacksonville and Florida Memorial College in Miami.

Feirmon Johnson, a graduate of North Carolina A&T University, encourages young people he knows to attend historically black universities.

"I'm a product of a black college and it offers anything and everything that traditionally white colleges do," he said. "Tradition, individuality, personalized and individualized culture, and ethnic sensitivity ... the black colleges recognize the needs of blacks. They were founded on the principles of a family unit and that will hold us together."

Shatonya Cain, a senior at Ely High, wants to attend a black university as did her uncle and aunt.

"As blacks, we should support our colleges," she said. "It upsets me that many of us have chosen not to."

In particular, Cain said, she is concerned that the best of the black male athletes end up at white schools.

Athlete Bobby Brown, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas, faced that decision. A first-string wide-receiver on the varsity football team, Brown intended to go to a black university but changed his mind because of better opportunities at white schools.

"Due to the athletic success I have had during high school, and opportunities offered to me by non-black universities, I am choosing colleges that are not historically black," Brown said. Among the offers he is considering is a full athletic scholarship to the University of Miami.

Students who have to make a tough decision like Brown's often feel pressure from family, friends and teachers.

Sometimes students turn to their ministers for guidance. The Rev. Elston R. Perry, pastor of St. John United Methodist Church in Fort Lauderdale, has discussed college decisions with a number of students from his church.

"Children should not be pressured into attending a black college. Yes, black colleges do have a lot to offer to students who want that experience, but at this point in their lives, they should be able to decide for themselves," Perry said.

Kathy Greene's decision to attend Bethune-Cookman College was her own. Though her parents attended the school, she never felt pressure to make the same choice.

"I wasn't exposed to a lot of my history in high school," said Green, a Stranahan High graduate. "At Bethune, I learned about my history and I got a great sense of family there."